For many molecular modelers—whether in academic labs, classrooms, or collaborative research groups—installing specialized molecular modeling software like SAMSON can be a surprising challenge when administrative rights are limited or not available. If you’ve ever submitted a ticket to your IT department just to get a new tool running, you know this friction well.
Fortunately, SAMSON was designed with this type of situation in mind. The platform can be installed and run entirely without administrator privileges, which removes a frequent barrier to entry and helps users get started faster and more independently.
Installing Without Admin Rights
Unlike many software applications that require deep system access, SAMSON installs into the user’s personal home directory. It explicitly avoids elevated privileges. In fact, it has a built-in check during startup to verify that it has not been launched in admin mode. This encourages users to operate securely and ensures compatibility with various organizational IT policies.
Here’s what that means in practice:
- 💡 No need to request admin access or wait on IT support tickets.
- 🧪 Ideal for classroom environments where lab computers are shared.
- 🔒 Better control of security policies since SAMSON never installs system-wide.
Whether you’re running Windows, macOS, or Linux, SAMSON’s installer respects the user-space philosophy.
Basic Requirements
Before starting, make sure that your machine meets the necessary prerequisites:
- 64-bit operating system. SAMSON is not compatible with 32-bit OS versions.
- OpenGL 4.1 capable graphics card. This includes most NVIDIA and AMD cards released in the last decade.
If you’re using a virtual machine, make sure to enable access to hardware GPU acceleration. SAMSON depends on GPU rendering for fast and interactive molecular visualization.
Warning
If running in a VM, check that your settings allow hardware GPU support; otherwise, you might run into OpenGL-related issues when visualizing structures.
Special Notes for Linux Users
Linux users may need to install a few dependencies manually, depending on the distribution. Here are the commands for Ubuntu-like and CentOS-like systems:
|
1 |
sudo apt install libxcb-cursor0 libatomic1 |
|
1 |
sudo dnf install xcb-util* |
If you encounter OpenGL-related problems, SAMSON provides a guide on managing GPU drivers.
Smooth, Accessible Start
Having the ability to install SAMSON without admin rights greatly streamlines setup—especially in constrained computing environments like institutional clusters, computer labs, shared office machines, or even personal laptops that aren’t managed with admin access. This user-friendly design supports both beginner users trying out modeling for the first time and seasoned researchers aiming to keep a clean computing environment.
To get started, check the full installation documentation at this page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.